Trouble In Paradise
by StrawberryAngel143
Summary: *Story about performer who plays at Bucket and Skinner's Prom and OC's. LEGAL READ NOTE!* Sequel to Postcard From Paradise! It's fall, and with the weather comes change. Jake is back and brings someone. Sure, it's not summer anymore and Gabi, Cody, Sydney, and Jake aren't at the beach. But there certainly are a lot of waves. More drama than ever! Don't own Cody Simpson's music
1. Surprise

**Note: This story is allowed on fanfiction by all rules under the Bucket And Skinner section. While this character only had a minor guest appearance on the show, if you check Wikipedia and all legal documents this person was NOT A PERFORMER but an actor on the show. He acted as a role, he played at Bucket and Skinner's prom acting as a musician, so this story is allowed under this category. I will fight this if you disagree, because this story is allowed now. I have checked and double checked the rules. Everything in this story now takes place in the "world of Bucket and Skinner" so to say, but they are not mentioned in the story. It's Cody's story, and the rest can be classified as OC's. Last names have been removed also, and are replaced with xxx. Thanks, and have a great day!**

**Hey guys! Here's the sequel to Postcard From Paradise, I hope you enjoy it! Also I am writing like five stories on here so if you want this one to be updated quickly then review, cuz I do the ones that are reviewed the most first! Also the character Sydney is based off of SydneyCrush, my fanfiction bestie…Haha, Gabi is based off of me, and I chose two characters you guys submitted. One was Astrid Dahlia List, submitted by ****Astros97. The other was Mary Joy Liberato**** submitted by mjritz playing Sydney's and Gabi's friends. Kay, enjoy!**

"Tonight is our four month anniversary," Sydney said proudly with a flip of her shoulder length blonde hair. Her pretty blue eyes sparkled at merely the thought of him…She was referring to her boyfriend Cody, of course. They'd known each other their whole lives but hadn't started dating until very recently and Sydney was madly in love. Lucky for her, he felt the same way.

"Yes, we're all fully aware," Gabi sighed, a little exasperated. She'd heard nothing but Sydney loves Cody and Cody loves Sydney for the past few weeks. Until this summer, the three of them had been nearly inseparable. They were best friends, but then Cody and Sydney started dating and Gabi became a permanent third wheel.

"Don't be a bey-otch," Sydney giggled, nudging Gabi playfully as they walked home from school together with their friends, Mary Jo and Astrid. "Just because you and Jake didn't work out-"

"Don't say his name," Gabi's hands connected with her ears instantly, bringing masses of wavy brown hair with her. Her big brown eyes closed trying to get his face out of her mind. She and Jake, Cody's best friend, met and dated the previous summer. She fell for him _hard. _But then things fell apart due to high-strung emotions and miscommunications, and they broke up right before it was time for him to go back to Australia and her to go back to the US.

"You're such a child," Astrid laughed rolling her blue eyes. "Just get over him already. It's so boring to stick to the same guy."

"Easy for you to say Astros, you get a new boyfriend every other day," Mary Jo giggled looking up at Astrid over her glasses.

"It's not that often," Astrid defended herself, but she looked proud. "More like every other week."

Sydney laughed and even Gabi cracked a smile.

"I think it's sweet," Mary Jo put her hand on Sydney's arm as the wind picked up a strand of her dark hair and toyed it across her tan skin. "You and Cody, I mean."

"Thanks, Mj," Sydney put her arm around the girl who was so much shorter than her as they walked. She started to chat about how sweet Cody was, and how she and Gabi were going to hang out with him after school today.

"Well, see you guys," Gabi hugged Astrid and Mary Jo goodbye as they approached Cody's neighborhood. "Try not to get a new boyfriend before the next time I see you Astros."

"Maybe, no promises," Astrid giggled as Sydney hugged her goodbye. They pulled part and Mary Jo and Astrid went one way as Sydney and Gabi went the other.

"Cody said he has a surprise for me," Sydney giggled with a thrilled look in her eyes. "Even though we're not celebrating four months, we're doing every six."

"Nice," Gabi said, trying to sound happy for her best friend. But inside she sighed. What would it have been like if she and Jake hadn't broken up, but returned to their homes? They would have made the long distance thing work she was sure of it. Sure, she missed him. But did she want him back? Hell no. She was furious with him for leaving the house they'd vacationed at last summer with Cody and Sydney. She had decided she was wrong, that they could get back together, but then he'd left early. That was unforgivable.

"-and then afterwards, he grabbed my hand and told me that I was the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen in the world," Sydney finished and Gabi looked up in time to see that her best friend was telling a story.

"Oh, that's sweet," she said robotically, and Sydney grinned.

"I know."

Gabi knew that she would have kept going with the Cody stories, but they were at Cody's house.

"She's here," a voice with a soft Australian accent called out of the house and Cody Simps*n appeared, jogging out of the house.

"No need to get so excited to see me Codes," Gabi laughed as he found Sydney in his arms and pressed his lips to hers. His soft t shirt was welcome against her chest and they kissed for a moment.

"Oh, I missed you too," Cody playfully squeezed Gabi around the waist before turning back to his girlfriend. "How was school, Syd?"

"Fine," she shrugged. "The good news is I don't have to go back for awhile."

Sydney and Gabi went to a special charter school on the West Coast where they got different days off than public schools, so they had the week of Halloween off, and it was October 26. They wouldn't have to go back until November 1.

"Homework?" Cody asked with a grin, taking Sydney's school bag off of her shoulder and then Gabi's. As a self-proclaimed gentleman, he always did little things like this.

"Just a little," Gabi replied as they walked into his house. The girls always did homework at his house after school, and since he was tutored and didn't go to school it counted towards his grades if he helped them.

They all walked up to the living room, pausing to say hello to Angie and Alli, Cody's mom and sister. Then they spread their books out over the white room with the giant window overlooking the driveway.

"Okay, so if x plus y equals seventy three and two x minus four is eighteen, what is the value of y?"  
"Does it matter?" Gabi said in a bored voice.

"Yes," Sydney said sternly. Sydney was more of the ambitious one when it came to homework, and without her Gabi wouldn't manage her straight A's. Sometimes doing homework with her was more work than it was worth, but Sydney didn't mind. She enjoyed helping people which was what set her apart, and a big reason why Cody dated her. Her heart was gold.

"This is impossible," Gabi said after a while, slamming down her pencil in frustration. "I quit."

"Might as well," Cody said with a quick glance at the clock. His face turned into a frown.

"What is it, babe?" Sydney smiled sunnily and took his hand as Gabi stood up and stretched, then flopped down on the couch lying there and looking up at the ceiling fan.

"Well, uh, it's almost time for your surprise," Cody said trying to sound cheerful.

"Good," Sydney said giddly. "I'm so excited.

"Cody, whose here?" Gabi stood up from the couch and walked to the window, where a sleek black van pulled up into the drive. Cody walked to the window too, his hands trembling and pulled Sydney along.

"That would be your surprise," Cody said, and Gabi reached onto the coffee table for her glass of water as they watched the people in the car get out.

SMASH!

Gabi dropped her cup and turned to Cody with a glare on his face as an all too familiar blonde head got appeared.

"Cody," she said, her voice deathly quiet. "Why is Jake here?"

"And whose that with him?" Sydney asked as a painfully beautiful girl with chestnut locks got out of the car too.

"Jake's cousin, who happens to also be my ex-girlfriend," Cody said weakly. "Surprise!"

**Note: Haha, drama started right away! I love writing this story. If you want a quick update then review because the more reviews the quicker I write, since I write whichever of my five stories gets the most reviews…So review, ya hear? 143! **


	2. Rosalina

Gabi dropped her cup and turned to Cody with a glare on her face as an all too familiar blonde head appeared.

"Cody," she said, her voice deathly quiet. "Why is Jake here?"

"And who's that with him?" Sydney asked as a painfully beautiful girl with chestnut locks got out of the car too.

"Jake's cousin, who happens to also be my ex-girlfriend," Cody said weakly. "Surprise!"

"Your what?" Sydney said blankly. Gabi was frozen as she watched Jake take his cousin's luggage.

"Her name's Rosalina," Cody offered in a small voice as Sydney turned to him with her mouth wide open.

"This is my surprise?"

"You like Jake," he avoided her eyes, and she put her hand on her hip. The setting sun was pouring in from the window, and washing Sydney in its glowing pink light. The soft glow made the sharp angles her face was set to even more distinct. Her boyfriend was too smart for this, and he knew this wasn't okay.

"Fine," Cody sighed, finally meeting her clear blue eyes with his aqua hazel ones. "I know, it's bad. But my mum and sister invited her, I didn't have anything to do with it!"

"How come I've never heard of her?" Sydney demanded.

"Well, we only dated for a little while."

Sydney relaxed.

"Oh, well how long?"

"Um, six months," Cody sort of mumbled under her breath.

"Cody!" Sydney gripped his arm, her fingernails clutching into his skin. "That's longer than we've dated!"

"We were like, twelve when it happened," Cody said, sinking a little bit due to the tight grip she had. "Ow, ow, she was my first girlfriend, I-ow, ow! Babe, nails!"

"This is not okay!" was Sydney's only reply.

Cody twisted himself out of Sydney's grip and instead took both of her hands in his. He held them tight, soothingly and spoke in a soft murmur of a voice. It was the velvety soft one he used only for her.

"Sydney, listen to me," he said in a low voice. "You are the only girl that means anything to me anymore. Everything else, every other kiss with any other girl, it's all disappeared okay? I love you and only you."

She softened a bit.

"You promise?"

"Of course I do, darling."

He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers for a second. She took a deep breath as he pulled away and nodded.

"Okay, I can do this…But, um, how long are they staying?"

"Just a week," he said with a wink. "Jake wanted to see what the big deal was about Halloween in America and his mum said he couldn't go alone, so he asked Rosalie to go."

"Oh," Sydney glanced out the window again to see Jake and Rosalie walking to the front door.

"Cody! Gabi! Sydney!" Angie's voice was heard from downstairs as the door opened.

"This is going to be great," Cody said with a smile. "Sydney, you and Rosie are going to be the best of friends and Gabi-"

"Rosie?" Sydney interrupted, and Cody looked at her with a sigh.

"Never mind," Sydney said quickly. "Let's go."

They walked to the door, but then realized something was missing.

"Gabi, you coming?" Cody asked, looking concerned. The brunette was still standing with her hands on the windowsill, her back to them. The sun was nearly set now, with only faint pink streaks shining through her brown locks.

"No," she turned around curtly. "I'm going home."

"You can't," Cody said calmly. "You don't have your keys and your parents are still in Aruba."

Sydney's and Gabi's parents were good friends and had gone away for the girls' vacation. The plan was that they'd stay with Cody and Angie, but obviously that wasn't going to work out.

"Then I'll stay at Syd's," Gabi turned to Sydney.

"My house is being renovated," the pretty blonde girl said regretfully. "Otherwise I'd be right alongside ya, baby."

"But," Gabi said in a small voice. "I can't-I mean, I won't be able to-I-I…Cody, it's _Jake. _How could you do this to me without even a warning?"

"I was thinking you two would get back together," Cody said in a small voice. "You wanted to, before he left early didn't you?"

"You can't tell him that," Gabi said, hastily. "I don't want him anymore, that's all over."

"On the bright side," Cody said with a smile. "He thinks you're in Aruba with your parents, so he's getting a surprise too…"

"Cody, Sydney, Gabi!" Angie's voice sounded again, and Cody grabbed one each of their hands and pulled them out of the room to the stairs.

"Coming!"

"Uh, who did you just call?" the familiar voice that made Gabi's heart instantly flip over inside of her, then recoil as she remembered pain sounded from near the bottom of the stairs.

"Cody and the girls, silly," Angie said her voice smiling.

"Yeah, what girls?"

"Sydney and Gabi," Angie said slowly, obviously wondering about Jake's intelligent level. "Honey, do you have jet-lag? Do you need-"

"No, no," Jake said quickly. "I'm fine, it's just-"

"Jake! Rosalina!" Cody flew down the remaining stairs to greet his friends.

"Hey, mate," Jake still sounded confused as he and Cody did a bro-hug. As Gabi and Sydney descended the stairs, hands interlocked like when they were nervous, Jake's confusion cleared instantly. He quickly looked away from the slight figure of the familiar girl he had given everything to.

"I missed you, Cody," the Rosalina girl pulled Cody into a hug, causing Sydney to squeeze Gabi's hand tightly and not loosen up. Gabi squeezed back in protest as her eyes cascaded to the floor, cheeks flaming as Jake avoided her eyes.

"I missed you more, Rose!"

She was the type of girl that made every other girl in the room take a fatal hit to her self-esteem and glance down self-consciously. She was small and slender, but also had the developed curves in her waist and chest of a woman. Her soft maple chestnut colored hair was waist-length and perfectly straight all the way down to where it toyed with her hips playfully. Her eyes were stunning, gorgeous crystal green, almost transparent. Her face was absolutely perfect, with no flaws or blemishes or freckles. Her lips were full and pink, her nose tiny and straight and her eyelashes long and brushing the tips of where her perfectly waxed, gentle arching eyebrows hit the baseline. She wore a light, sparkly eye shadow that glimmered like fresh dew on the morning grass and eyeliner that made her eyes crinkle as though in a smile. Her teeth were pearly and straight and perfect in every way.

Worse still was the perfect golden tan stretching from her bronze legs to her sun kissed forehead. She wore a pair of tiny jean shorts that hugged her hips perfectly and stopped far before her hair did, and a Hollister tank. She broke the rule that "nobody was perfect."

She was definitely beautiful, she was definitely Cody's type, and both Gabi and Sydney _definitely _hated her already. Maybe it was the confident grin on her lips or the way she stood buoyantly on the tops of her toes. Maybe it was the way she wore her tank top low so her chest bounced out and drew everybody's eyes. Maybe it was her charming accent, how she made every word sound like a song played on a set of perfectly tuned bells.

Cody and Rosalina separated, and then she turned to face Gabi and Sydney with a beautiful smile.

"Hello, I'm Rosalina. It's nice to meet you."

"Um, I'm Gabi," Gabi said because Sydney was quiet, staring at the girl disdainfully. She bumped against Sydney with the inside of her hip.

"And I'm Sydney," the she said, sounding annoyed.

Cody glanced from Sydney, to Jake, to Gabi, wondering who would make the first move.

"Jake, uh, you remember Sydney and Gabi," Angie looked around, wondering why the tension was so high.

"Oh, do you know them already?" Rosalina looked up at her cousin with wide eyes.

"Yes, we went on vacation last summer," Jake said with a forced smile. Gabi felt her stomach ice up at his accent, which seemed so much stronger. He was taller, too, his hair an even lighter shade of platinum gold. His chest had broadened even more, and he was _so _much hotter than he had been then, which seemed impossible.

Jake, of course was too mature to totally ignore this so he spoke up.

"Hello, Syd and Gabi."

"Hi Jake," Sydney said with a little smile. She had missed him.

Everybody turned expectantly to Gabi, awaiting her reply. She looked up to finally meet Jake's eyes, and he met hers too. In that millisecond, a million and one unsaid things passed between them.

"How have you been?" Jake asked her, acting like an adult. It drove Gabi crazy that everyone here was so mature all of a sudden. Like the fact that Sydney wasn't tearing Rosalina to shreds over the fact that the latter had found Cody's hand in her own and was holding tight. The fact that Cody was anxiously watching the faces all around him, too many secrets vaulted inside of him to say anything aloud. The fact that Rosalina herself was so beautiful and mature and poised. The fact that Jake was talking to her like he hadn't ripped her heart out and tore it to shreds only four months ago, like she wasn't the only girl to ever make him cry, like he didn't remember all of the moments and kisses and nights they'd shared, like she hadn't told him secrets and he hadn't listened and held her hand and promised to protect her from anything that could possibly even try to hurt her.

It was maddening, infuriating, and most of all heartbreaking.

So she did what only she would do in a situation of everybody acting like grown-ups. Instead of smiling at Jake and telling him politely, "I'm doing fine, thank you for asking. And how are you?" she looked at him, took a step forward and blew a raspberry right in his face.

Jake just watched her, looking slightly amused as she turned on her heel and walked away and up the stairs. Everybody was silent, Alli and Angie, Cody, Rosalina, Sydney…Then Sydney started to laugh and followed Gabi up the stairs calling after her as she tried hard not to giggle.

"Girls get dressed," Angie called, sounding exasperated, giving up on understanding teenagers. She had decided to tactfully ignore the situation, like most _mature _adults would. "We're going to dinner!"

Rosalina looked at Jake, who was still watching where Gabi had been with a bemused expression.

"Still such a charmer," he said under his breath. Rosalina giggled, and turned to Cody throwing her arms around his neck once more and squealing giddily. She held herself close to him, her thighs gently bumping against his and her chest grazing his as though accidentally. He grinned too and put his hands around her waist.

"I missed you!" she said again. "Cody, I'm so excited! Things are going to be like they used to, before you moved to America!"

"Yeah," Cody sounded happy. "It's going to be great!"

"And," she said, as she stood high on her toes. Her lips tumbled against his cheek, and he felt shivers run into his toes as the spot where she had kissed him seared blissfully. "I'm so happy to get our relationship back on track. I waited three years for you!"

**Note: Uh-ohhh! Haha I will update again Thursday, sorry for the long wait! Review, 143! **


	3. The Dinner

"Okay, this is an emergency of the highest level," Sydney spoke to Gabi as they let themselves into Cody's room, outfits in hand. His room had the best bathroom attached to it, and also the biggest mirror with the most light sockets for plugging things like curling irons in.

"I know," Gabi's voice was low, all business. "Rosalina is threatening your relationship with Cody."

"And you have to show Jake what he's been missing by having the time of your life at dinner tonight," Sydney winked.

"Which means," started Gabi. "We both have to look totally-"

"Completely-"

"Absolutely-"

"Positively-"

"One hundred percent-"

"Fabulous," they finished at the same time, and then both broke out into a heap of giggles as they headed towards the bathroom.

"So," Sydney reached under the counter in Cody's bathroom and lifted the crate of beauty supplies which was threatening to spill over with straightening and curling irons, heated curlers, hair donuts, brushes and combs, tons of makeup, clips, nail polishes-basically every beauty essential imaginable. The girls had gone crazy once shopping with one of Cody's credit cars. Not that Cody minded, of course. In his own words, he'd do anything for his "two favorite girls."

"Are you ready for this, girly?"

"Totally."

Gabi sat on the counter and Sydney eyed her carefully. Both girls were obsessed with cosmetology, and they took every opportunity to show it.

Sydney started with Gabi's hair. Patiently, she sectioned it and took each layered golden brown strand and wound it around the tip of the curling iron in turn until Gabi's locks were elaborate curls streaming like ribbons from a piñata down her back. Then she set to work on makeup, starting with foundation and primer and finishing with a flick of mascara. The dewy pink on Gabi's eyelids was sweet, but the lash of eyeliner was sassy and it was amazing how once again Sydney had summed up the girl's elaborate personality using only makeup.

Then, Gabi got to work on Sydney. She clipped a large section of Sydney's blonde locks above her head and started to work the straightening iron through each lock until Sydney's hair was perfectly shoulder length and stock straight. After using a large array of bronzers and powders, she lined Sydney's blue eyes brazenly and then only added a smidgen of smoky eye-shadow, and a lot of mascara. The affect was striking and made Sydney look a little prettier and a lot more intimidating.

They were about to slip into their outfits when a knock came at Cody's bedroom door.

"Girls? Are you in there?" It was Cody.

"Yeah," Sydney called back. "We're getting ready."

"Oh, well could you hurry up? Jake and I need to get in there real quick."

"Sucks for you!" Gabi called back instantly at the mere mention of Jake's name. Sydney shot her a furtive glance at her with a slight shake of her head.

They were both silent, and then Jake spoke up.

"You are aware this is Cody's house, right?"

"Was I talking to you?"

"Excuse me? There's no need to be rude."

"I'm sorry, what was that? I couldn't hear you over the irony of you butting into a conversation and then having the nerve to call me rude," Gabi glared at the door, her fists curled tight.

"Well maybe your ears are clogged from blowing too many raspberries. That was really mature, by the way, I applaud you," Jake said back smoothly, clearly enjoying the battle of wits and temper between him and his ex-girlfriend.

"Maybe," she said snappishly. "Or maybe I just don't listen to what comes out from douchebags' mouths."

"Another point for Gabi's maturity factor," Jake said, clearly getting annoyed now.

"I never claimed to be mature! Because I'm not, Jake, and I don't pretend to be something I'm not so people will like me better."

"Well maybe if you did you'd have more friends."

"I have all the friends I need, and stop talking to me since you're not one of them."  
"Thank God for that," Jake mumbled, and a pair of heavy footsteps walked away from the door.

"Mate, wait!" Another pair of footsteps, and Sydney and Gabi were alone again.

"So I was thinking the coral dress-" Gabi began, but Sydney gave her a look and she broke off.

"What?"

"You can't pick fights like that with him if you want to show him how much you moved on," Sydney said, laying a patient hand on Gabi's shoulder.

"He so started it," she began, but then sighed as she resigned. "You're right, Syd. But he just makes me so…so mad!"

"I know, I know," Sydney shushed her, comforting as always. "But you can't let him see that he does that to you. I want you to go out tonight and paint on your best smile and show him that he means nothing. Show him you can have fun without him, show him he means absolutely nothing to you, okay?"

"Okay," Gabi nodded, but inside she was a mess. She had never been a good liar…

And even worse, now she was lying to herself.

oOo

As though fate were laughing at them, the seating for dinner that night at the fancy Italian restaurant in West LA on the beach was almost too uncomfortable to be a coincidence.

On one side of the table were Mr. and Mrs. Simpson, Tom, and Alli and Sydney. Cody was at the turn, with Sydney on his left and Rosalina on his right. Next to Rosalina was Jake, and beside him sat Gabi with a clearly annoyed look on her otherwise pretty face.

"So Cody," Rosalina giggled and scooched closer to him with misty green eyes exactly the same shade as the jaded emerald dress she was wearing, with a lace-up back and pretty geometrical cuts that exposed large amounts of her tan skin. She rested one of her hands on his shoulder, clearly liking the feeling of his firm muscle under her icy fingers. "On a scale of one to ten, how much have you missed me?"

"You know what?" Sydney leaned forward with a clearly forced smiling, taking Cody's other arm. "I have never heard Cody mention you, Rosalina. Not once."

"Well some of the more precious memories are kept personal," Rosalina never tore her eyes away from Cody, her face glowing.

Cody laughed awkwardly and shot a panicked glance at Gabi to get him out of this situation, as she normally had his back for things like that. But she only raised one of her perfectly waxed brows and glanced pointedly at Jake and then back at Cody with the slight shake of her head.

He was on his own.

"So," he said loudly. "Jake's a really successful model now, guys. Did everyone know that?"

Jake looked up a little, stunned.

"I knew that," Alli spoke up, leaning across the table with a little smile on her lips. "Jake Tweets me _all _the time. We're going to do a shoot together, aren't we Jake?"

"Yes," he nodded with a little smile. He had always been tolerant but flattered at Alli's little school-girl crush on him. "Coco from back home is going to shoot us for one of her movies too."

"Ooh, can I be in it?" Rosalina, her arm winding itself around Cody's now like a thorn to a rose spoke up. "I love Coco, we went to eighth grade together!"

"Me too," Cody smiled. "She's so good at what she does."

"Totally," Jake grinned. "It can be like an Australian thing, we can all do it together. GCF, right?"

"Right," Alli laughed, leaning forward. "Coco and I can be like, the editors or whatever! Oh, you know what? Maybe we could do like a couple's shoot! Coco can be with Cody, we can find someone for Rosie, and I can be with you Jake!"

The younger girl's face was lit up with excitement.

"Actually, I'd rather be with my girlfriend," Jake grinned at Alli, trying hard not to hurt her feelings. "Als, you know Coco and I are a thing now right?"

Gabi caught Sydney's eye fuming, but Sydney was having her own problems. She was clutching Cody's arm so tightly it must have been bruising, but he didn't seem to notice.

"So," Jake turned to Gabi with an amused smile on his face. He knew exactly what he was doing. "Are you seeing anyone, Gab?"  
"A little bit of everyone," she said, casting her eyes down. "Committed relationships are for boring people."

"Hey," Cody caught her eye with an astonished look. "Are you calling me boring?"

"Seriously," Rosalina giggled, and she slipped herself under Cody's arm then wrapped it around her waist. "Just because me and Cody are serious doesn't mean we're boring."

"You and Cody?" Sydney repeated blankly. Rosalina glanced at her with a dirty look on her face, as though Sydney were something she had found on the bottom of her shoe.

"Yes," Rosalina said. "Hasn't he told you? We've been dating for years, since before he got famous."

Sydney gritted her teeth.

"Cody?"

**Note: Sorry I didn't update Thursday, I have a good excuse though! I had to go to the emergency room. Nothing serious, but I was there for a while and it screwed up my writing schedule. Review,143! **


	4. Poison Smile

Yes," Rosalina said. "Hasn't he told you? We've been dating for years, since before he got famous."

Sydney gritted her teeth.

"Cody?"

"Um, about that," Cody looked to Rosalina. "See, the thing is…Rosie, Syd and I-"

"What are you trying to say to me?" Rosalina looked perfectly pouty, her lower lip jutting out tenderly behind her upper one. She had mastered the sad/innocent/sexy thing.

"Oh my God, it's not hard to understand," Gabi spoke up irritably. "Sydney and Cody are dating, get over it!"

She looked affronted, and Gabi glanced around the table to see exactly how much damage she had done. Cody's parents were focused on talking Tom into eating his vegetables, so they hadn't seen anything. Alli, however, was watching with her mouth slightly open. Cody seemed to be in pain, and was shaking his head. Sydney looked shocked at her best friend's reaction, and Rosalina seemed ready to kill Gabi.

Jake, however, seemed to be fighting off laughter. He didn't disguise the fact that his eyes were glued onto her like he usually did, and she looked away uncomfortably.

"Cody?" Rosalina asked looking heartbroken. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"When I told you I was moving to America, you just ran away crying and told me not to follow you," Cody said desperately. "We didn't talk at all afterwards, I thought it was safe to say that we broke up. Besides, Jake said you dated other people."

"It wasn't serious," she said in a teary whisper. "I thought you _loved _me_."_

"Look, I'm really sorry," Cody shook his head. "But I'm with Sydney now."

She nodded, looking heartbroken.

"I'm sorry," Sydney felt a little bad.

"Don't be," Rosalina turned to Sydney , a graceful smile that didn't meet her eyes on her face. "I'm not worried about it."

"What exactly do you mean by that?" Alli looked fascinated with the whole situation.

"I mean I had Cody first," Rosalina smiled innocently. "And I'm not giving him up without a fight."

"Okay, look bro," Sydney was furious now.

"Excuse me?"

"Who do you think you are?" Sydney demanded. "Cody is _my _boyfriend now. Not yours, okay? Can't you just accept that?"

"No," she shook her head still smiling gracefully.

"No?" Sydney repeated, glaring at her.

"Did I stutter?" Rosalina cocked her perfect head to the side and Sydney slammed her fist down on the table.

"Look, you know what you can do? You can go take that perfect little attitude of yours and shove it up your-"

"Okay, okay," Cody spoke, overshadowing Sydney's voice. "Come on, let's all chill. We can talk about this later."

"No, we can talk about it now," Rosalina said. "Cody, who do you want? Me? Or…_her_?"  
"Rose," Cody said patiently, laying a hand on her bare arm. "I did love you, but that was a long time ago. Now I'm with Sydney, and I'm honestly very happy. So I'd appreciate it if you'd back down, please?"

"No thank you," she said again, politely like it was a choice of weather she wanted a glass of water or not. She took his hand from his arm and interlocked it in both of her own.

"Rosalina, that's enough for now," Jake said in his deep accent. "How about I take you back to Cody's house?"

"I'm not leaving," she shook her head, that perfect angelic smile still on her face.

"Yeah? Well then I am," Sydney got onto her feet.

"Okay, have a nice ride home," Rosalina waved delicately.

"I cannot believe you," Sydney's voice was raising now, and Cody's parents glanced up at her. So did people from the surrounding tables. "How can you be so…so annoying? And desperate? It's clear Cody doesn't want you, can't you just accept that? You're a nightmare! How could anyone be so dumb? Seriously!"

"Sydney," Cody's voice was sharp. "That's not how you talk to people, please sit back down."

"That is…so mean," Rosalina put a hand over her heart as though she were shocked and tears filler her eyes. But she flashed a smirk at Sydney.

"What_ever_."

Sydney shook her head and walked away, leaving Gabi to stand up and follow her out of the restaurant. Jake looked at Cody, who was rubbing his temple as though he had a massive headache.

"Neither of them have their licenses, do they?" Jake asked.

"No," Cody said under his breath. "I'll text a car."

"They won't take it," Jake stood up and put some money on the table, then followed both girls out of the restaurant. Even through discord, his instincts were too much of a gentleman's to let two girls in full makeup and dresses walk home along a desolate highway alone at night.

He followed them out into the night air, where Gabi was hugging Sydney tight.

"She's just a bad person," Gabi was saying. She stopped at the sight of Jake, who shoved his hands in his pockets.

"I'm going home with you."

"No, you're not," Gabi said simply, turning back to Sydney. "Go away, Jake."

"So you two seriously think that you're just going to walk back home at night dressed like that and not get kidnapped?"

"We can take care of ourselves," Sydney snapped, somehow blaming Jake for his cousin's rudeness.

"Fine, then, I'll just come along. The road is big enough for three."

"If you follow us I'll call the police because we're being stalked, no joke."

"You don't like the police," Jake reminded Gabi. She found it striking that he remembered such a tiny detail about her.

"So? It's better than having to walk home with you."

"Fine, works for me," Jake shrugged. "I'm not offering because I want to go with you, it's because if something happened to you I could prevent I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. If you call the police at least you'd have an escort."

"Thanks, Jake," Sydney sniffed. "Fine you can walk us."

"He can walk _you_," Gabi corrected. "I'll go home with Cody."

"Okay, enjoy the ride with Rosalina and Cody and his parents," Jake smirked. "I'm sure it won't be awkward at all."

"Shut up," she mumbled under her breath, and she made no move to go back to Cody and his family.

**Note: Isn't Rosalina evil? Haha, review, 143!**


	5. Storm Brewing

"We need to talk," Cody burst into the guest room Sydney and Gabi were sharing. Jake had gotten the other guest room, leaving Rosalina to share with Alli (although she had wanted to stay with Cody).

"There's nothing to talk about," Sydney said as she took her makeup off. Gabi was lying on her back on one of the beds texting MJ and Astrid.

"Oh, so you think you screaming at one of my friends in a crowded restaurant is nothing?" Cody demanded.

"Guys, it's like midnight," Gabi spoke up. "Can't we do this in the morning?"

"No, we're doing this here and now," Cody said sharply. "If you don't like it, leave."

He looked at the girl he usually saved his amused expressions and smiles for very harshly.

"But I wanna sleep," she whined, and Cody gave her a softer look, the one she was used to.

"There's a very comfortable futon downstairs in the basement, in the TV room with the pool table," he said gently with a desperate look on his face. She groaned, but got up and grabbed a stack of pillows and blankets off the bed, and then disappeared.

"Thanks Gabs," Cody called after her gratefully.

"Yeah, thanks Gabs," Sydney parroted, but her tone was sarcastic. She looked back at Cody, who was settling himself on the end of the bed Gabi had just vacated.

"Okay," he said in a light voice. "I'm not going to get upset, I'm not going to shout, I'm not going to say anything I might regret or that will hurt your feelings. Will you please listen to me as I explain-calmly and rationally-how I feel?"

"Yes," she said in a monosyllabic tone.

"Sydney," he took a deep breath. "Before I moved to America and met you and Gabi, I had a very different life. You know that."

She nodded once, curtly. Her blue eyes were curious, but also guarded as she wondered what exactly he was getting at.

"And, well…Obviously, I had other girls in my life. You had other boys, too."

"But the point is, they're gone," she cut in. "I didn't invite them over my house for a week."

"Please, please let me finish," Cody was just short of begging. She nodded, trying not to roll her eyes.

"So the point is, I did-well, my mum did- invite her over. Because she is more than just an ex-girlfriend, she's my good friend, and I'd like to keep it that way. I care about her, so please respect her, for me."

"I can't respect a girl that wants to steal my boyfriend."

Cody got up, and sat at the end of Sydney's bed instead. He took her hand in his with more tenderness than he ever had.

"If you love me," he whispered, leaning down to press his lips against her pale knuckles. "You'll try."

"Aww, no fair," Sydney moaned, falling back against the pillow. "Not the if-you-love-me card."

"I had to," Cody smiled up at her. "The situation was desperate enough. So will you try, Syd?"

"I don't know," she grumbled, crossing her arms against her chest.

"Please," he murmured, leaning closer and stopping short right at her lips. "For me."

She nodded, and he grinned.

"Perfect."

"No, actually this situation is far from it," she corrected him.

"I was actually talking about you," Cody leaned forward and cradled the back of her head as he leaned in to kiss her.

oOo

Gabi walked downstairs into the basement, dragging the blankets along behind her as she mumbled with annoyance.

"Stupid Cody," she said under her breath. "Stupid Rosalina. Stupid _life._"

"You know the first sign of insanity is talking to yourself."

She gasped and flipped on the light switch.

It was Jake, sitting in one of the armchairs with his eyes shut tight. He didn't even open them as she stared.

"And the first sign of a rapist is sitting in a dark room alone with no warning that you're there."

He laughed.

"Please. I wouldn't ever need to resort to that. Girls _beg _for me to get into their beds. Seriously, have you been on Twitter lately?"

Gabi rolled her eyes at his absurdity, not even bothering to answer. Instead she simply dropped the stack of blankets and pillows onto the crimson red futon, then crossed her arms tight over her chest,

"That's kind of why I'm down here," Jake continued, his tone light and almost condescending. "Alli sure has gotten a lot more…forward since I've last seen her.

"And?" Gabi raised her eyebrows. Alli wasn't ugly and normally Jake would take full advantage of a situation like this one.

"Well, like I said," Jake replied with that same little smirk on his face. "I have a girlfriend now."

Underneath the jealousy and aggravation and annoyance that was tidal pooling in Gabi's heart, she felt a little twinge of what almost felt like respect.

"And besides," Jake added. "I doubt Cody would like it too much if I bang his sister."

And just like that, the respect was gone and replaced with venom. It would have been almost hatred if the feelings she had had for him last summer hadn't been etched _quite _so deep.

"You're disgusting."

He shrugged.

"Yeah, because I care _sooo _much about what you think of me."

She kept her face blank, not letting him know how much that hit her.

"Look," she sat on the couch and pulled her bare legs up and tucked them under her chin. "Could you just go away? I'm sleeping down here because Cody and Sydney are resolving their relationship dilemmas in my room."

"Would me being down here annoy or upset you?" he almost looked concerned.

"Uh, yeah."

"Well then, I'm staying."

And Jake fell back into the chair for what was definitely going to be one of Gabi's longest nights ever.

**Note: Hi guys! So you've probably noticed I haven't been updating as often as usual, and I'm really sorry but there's nothing I can do to change that! I'm really sorry about how annoying the random updates are, and I hope things will be a little better towards middle November, maybe. Also I haven't forgotten about the other more adult story I've promised you, and I will post the first chapter of it soon! I'm sorry for the wait, review, 143! **


	6. A Long Night

Cody pulled Sydney closer to him, listening to the lullaby of her steady breathing as she slept. He'd heard the sound countless times before, and it always soothed him even back when they were just friends. Hearing Sydney breath meant somebody was there with him, that he had someone to lean on who understood him.

And when they fought or she fell asleep someplace besides in his arms, the absence of her light breathing kept him awake. Presently, her eyelids fluttered as she turned, and opened her eyes.

"Are you still awake, baby?" she mumbled through her sleep, burying her face inside his shoulder.

"Yeah, just thinking," he whispered back and kissed her hair. She smiled dimly, but he knew that she was wide awake because the grin reached her eyes.

"About what?"

"Politics," he said sarcastically, chuckling and letting the softness of the pillow cradle his head deeper as he in turn cradled his favorite girl in the world. "You, of course."

She giggled and reached up for his lips.

"Oh, Cody…"

He kissed her and his hands found her waist pulling her on top of him. She found the grooves of his body where hers fit and locked herself into him as the kiss grew deeper and deeper, despite the clock shining a bright one forty eight in the morning.

The door banged open, and Sydney pulled away to see none other than…

Rosalina.

oOo

"What are you doing?! That's a _brand new _episode ok Keeping Up With the Kardashians!"

"…You are _such _a lady."

"Ooh! Jersey Shore, I love this episode it's the one when Kourt and Scott-Hey, go back!"

"Shut up, Jake."

"You're going past all the good shows," Jake moaned in frustration.

Gabi stared at the glass of water on the coffee table as though seriously contemplating drowning herself in it. Despite all of his comments, all of his attempts to get arise out of her, she had kept quiet and just tried to tune out his voice with sleep. She wished she had brought her headphones down here with her. She'd turned on the TV around one when Jake made it clear he wasn't going to give up, and so she wrote sleep off altogether.

"I mean," Jake continued. "I know you don't have good taste, but still…"

He smirked.

"You're right," Gabi finally settled on a rerun of Glee. "I don't have good taste. I mean, I did date you after all."

She shuddered delicately, and Jake frowned at the turnaround.

"Good one."

"I know."

oOo

"What are you doing here?" Sydney demanded, sitting up straight and sliding off of Cody's lap.

"Chill, love," Cody placed his hand on the small of her back. "What's wrong, Rosie?"

If Sydney had taken the time to actually look, she would have realized that Rosalina's beautiful face was pale and that she was quivering from head to toe in fear.

Or shivering from cold, Sydney thought. She was wearing a pair of skimpy black lace underwear and bra, clearly visible from behind the short fluffy pink bathrobe she had left open in an accidentally-on-purpose sort of way.

"I had a bad dream," she cast her big green eyes down sadly and drew her arms around herself pathetically. "I got so scared and I went to find Jake, but he wasn't there so I came in here instead. I didn't mean to interrupt anything…"

"Grow up," Sydney mumbled under her breath.

"You didn't interrupt," Cody said at once. Sydney glanced at him, and he shushed her with a smile. "But I don't realize what I can do to make your bad dream better…"

"I thought maybe I could sleep in here," she said in a small voice. "But I need a bed since my back is weak, so…"

With a surprisingly strong grip, she grabbed Sydney's wrist and pulled her out of her own bed. She tumbled to the floor, and then Rosalina climbed into her place.

"Dude," Sydney sounded outraged. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

oOo

"Gab, are you still awake?" Jake's whisper floated across the dark room.

"Don't call me that," she mumbled, her voice quivering a little.

"Are you alright? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," her voice was stronger now, but her teeth chattered together obviously. Having only brought down a single blanket amidst all of the pillows, the brunette was freezing as she huddled together on the futon to keep warm.

"Are you crying?" he asked incredulously.

"You wish. I'm cold."

"Well here, have one of my blankets."

"I'd rather die."

"You're probably going to. Of hypothermia. It's like October and the AC is on, seriously take a blanket!"

"Just leave me alone, creep."

Jake didn't press it, he turned back to silent. Gabi felt her eyelids grow heavier and heavier, and her breathing grow steadier. Right before she fell asleep, she reached a dreamlike state.

It seemed faraway and close at the same time. She felt-or dreamed? that Jake was getting out of his makeshift bed on the recliner and tucking a blanket around her shoulders. As if it could get anymore unbelievable, he leaned down and brushed his lips across her forehead.

"I've missed you too, love."

oOo

"What do you mean?" Rosalina looked confused of Sydney's outrage.

"Okay, this is too weird," Cody climbed out of his bed. "Look Rose, Gabi and Jake are in the basement. Why don't you go down there with them?"

"Or just back to your own bed?" Sydney demanded, knowing that if Rosalina went down there too, Gabi would be ready to kill Sydney. If she wasn't already.

"Because I'm scared," she pouted on Cody's bed, and he sighed before sitting down next to her. She looked up at him innocently, casually brushing against her robe so it opened even more and exposed more tan skin.

"Look," Rosalina started. "I know I'm annoying you, Codes, and that you've got a girlfriend now and everything. I'm sorry, I just thought we were still friends. I guess I was wrong, though, since you won't even help me. I'm sorry I was so stupid."

"No, Rosalina, wait," Cody grabbed her wrist as she stood up, and she turned around hopefully. He cast a look at Sydney, who just looked away and then sighed. "We are friends. I'm sorry. Here, you can sleep in my bed and I'll sleep right here on the floor. Syd, do you want to go grab two sleeping bags from upstairs?"

"Two? Why two?"

"One for me and one for you."

"I'm actually going to go sleep in my own bed," Sydney put a hand on her hip. Rosalina can sleep in yours or hers or whatever, and you can sleep on the floor in one of those rooms. Now get out."

"Syd," Cody sighed, but she just shook her head stubbornly.

"I said get out."

**Note: Review, review, review! And have a safe and happy Halloween! 143! :) **


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